Day One
by KaliAnn
Summary: Follows my AU storyline. During her first day as a member of the Birds of Prey, Zantana learns the benefits and disadvantages of being part of this team from her teammate Flamebird/Bettie Kane. Is she up the task and can she survive day one? Oneshot.


_ This is a companion piece to my other Young Justice Stories and follows that AU I created. Click my name to read them. Don't forget to read and review. _

Today was the first day of Zantana's new life as a super heroine. It had taken a lot of convincing and begging to even get her dad, Zatara, to let her out of the house. As much as she would have enjoyed being part of the Young Justice team, she wanted to make her own mark on the hero world on her own terms. That's why she had accepted Flamebird's offer to be a junior member of the Birds of Prey. Batman had convinced Zatara that his old protégé Oracle would be able to protect her until she was ready to apply for League membership one day.

"Do you know how you're getting to Tower headquarters? Have you got everything for your first day of training? Did you remember your mirror to contact me if you run into trouble?" Zatara questioned her as the two got ready to leave Shadowcrest. Zackary would be holding down the home for the day.

"Relax Dad; I'm a big girl now! According to Bettie; I'm not the only new member being introduced today. Today's really going to be a big initiation party with some light sparring. I'm not going on any missions for awhile."

"Alright, but I wish you would wear a small disguise. I'm strong enough to handle threats without a disguise, but you are still in training."

"No problem Dad. Watch this. _ Seirossecca htiw_ _mrofinu ym ni em tup!" _ Aphotic green smoke hid Zantana and few seconds later vanished. She was in her typical uniform with a black and white magician style carnival mask, top hat and wand. "You like? Bettie suggested I go by a code name for awhile. I was thinking Magician Girl? Do you think this will help calm your nerves Dad?"

"It's a start. I hope that you have a good first day. I will see you tonight at dinner, which is if nothing comes up. Have fun Zantana, I mean Magician Girl," Zatara told his daughter. Both took the Zeta Tube near Shadowcrest to their destination. He was heading up to the Watchtower for a meeting and she was exiting a tube in Gotham. Flamebird had promised to meet her there with a spare bike and escort her to the BOP East Coast Headquarters.

Zantana slipped out the alley glancing nervously around the streets of Gotham. It was very different then what Robin and Artemis had described. "This place is creepy."

A horn beeped startling the poor girl. Bettie in her Flamebird uniform was sitting on her red and yellow motorcycle with one next to her done in Zantana's colors. "You're late. If we want to make the initiation ceremony we need to get a move on."

"What can I say? I like to make an entrance. Come on I can't wait to meet the other members! This is going to be a great day."

"You say that now, but trust me by the end of day one you'll be singing a different tune. There are a lot of perquisite and lot disadvantages to being a junior member of the team."

The two girls zoomed through the streets of Gotham until the reached the outskirts. Flamebird led her down a hidden dirt road until they reached an old converted police station with a large clock tower on it. There was electrified fence surrounding the entire property. Flamebird went up the gate and enter her thumb print, retinal scan, slipped her id in the scanner before the gates opened. The girl's parked their bikes in the underground garage and took the elevator to the lobby.

"Tight security you got here and I'm love the décor. It's so rich in history. How do you guys even keep this place a big secret?" Magician Girl asked.

"It helps when you have rich woman and skilled hackers on the team. Hello Flamebird, I see that you finally found our wayward new member. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Kathy Kane, but you can call me Batwoman. I'm the defacto leader of the East Coast branch of the Birds of Prey. I'm sure my niece has told you a lot about me," Batwoman said entering the pristine lobby to greet her niece. She surprised Magician Girl by snapping a photo of her and few seconds later handing her a team id card.

"Oh man, I look like I'm screaming. I can fix that; _Ecin kool erutcip ym ekam! _There that's better. It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Batwoman. Flamebird has told me all sorts' stories about you. You're an impressive heroine in your own right."

"She should be after all the time and effort she spent working to become the female dark knight. So where is everyone else? I was hoping to introduce Zantana to the rest of the team before the video conference call with Oracle later."

"They're in the conference room reviewing evidence of current and past cases. As well as showing our new full members around. I thought that we could give your little friend a tour and some history of the organization before joining them for the initiation ceremony. We have a little time after all. Would you like that?"

"Would I ever! That be so cool and I can't wait to meet the other members! I can't believe this team is made up of all girls!" Zantana said as they took the elevators to the next level.

"Well mostly girls we d have a few male members. The Birds of Prey was created to help handle cases that normal agencies and other superhero groups tend to overlook. We've had rotating members before, but as of now we have created an elite force of stable members and hope to expand now that we have two branches working the different areas of the US. This is Tower One also known as the Clocktower. As you can see, we've converted it to serve our needs," Batwoman explained as they walked around the second floor. Magician Girl's eyes were wide as she saw the set up.

"We have three state of the art computer labs, two crime labs for examining evidence as well as personal rooms for members to relax. One member of the team has to be here at all times. So it's a good place to relax and build a little home away from home."

"I bet you our sleepovers here are going to be a lot of fun! The third floor of the tower not only houses a state of the art training facility, indoor pool and hot tub, but a great cafeteria where we can chow down and gossip. Just remember, as junior members it's our responsibility to keep the tower running smoothly."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You'll discover that later. The forth floor has detention cells, infirmary, and storage for supplies and our library. The last floor contains offices, conference rooms, and security center. After that it's just the attic under the clock tower and the roof. What do you think of everything?" Batwoman inquired as they exited the elevator and headed to the conference room.

"What do I think? I love this HQ. Its so much better then Young Justice and I love the perks of all these state of art tech devices. I love the fact I get my own motorcycle and I'm going to be involved with international cases! This is so cool!"

"Whoa slow down, this only day one. First, I would like you to meet the rest of the team. Everyone's here and Oracle will be Skyping in five minutes. Okay girls looked who I found," Batwoman called out as they entered a large conference room with a breakfast buffet waiting for them. All the members, both old and new, were enjoying cinnamon buns, coffee or orange juice, as well as some muffins. The teens quickly got their food and sat down chatting. A few minutes later the vid screen flashed on and everyone came to order.

"Greeting East Coast Birds of Prey. I'm happy to see you all doing so well. As you know recent events have caused us to expand our membership and I couldn't be prouder with our new Birds. I would like members both old and new to introduce so that we can grow as teammates. As the leader I'll go first. I'm Oracle and I'm the leader of this group."

"My name is Misfit and I'm a Meta human."

"Lady Blackhawk, aviation expert."

"Hawk, Avatar of War"

"Dove, Avatar of Peace."

"Savant, genius and Oracle's private project."

Now it was their turn. Batwoman went first and prompted the shy Batgirl to speak up. Huntress introduced herself next proclaiming proudly she was a field leader on missions. Flamebird was bit quieter, but at last it was the three newcomers here turn to speak.

"My name is Fire and I'm a Meta human and former government agent."

"My name is Ice and I'm Meta human and best friends with Fire."

"My name is Magician Girl and I'm a homo magicus ready to make her mark on the world!"

"I'm glad to hear that and I welcome you all to our team roster. I know that with your unique talents that we can handle any problem that comes up. That being said I think that it's important for our new junior member to develop her fighting skills. I'm sure that you're strong with your magic Magician Girl, but it's important that you learn how to defend yourself should your magic be unavailable. I've decided the best way to help you get stronger is to pair you up with a trainer. Batgirl, I think you would be the best one to teach her to fight. Will you be willing to take on Magician Girl as your student?"

Batgirl didn't say anything at first mulling over the proposal. She gave the trembling the Magician Girl a quick evaluation. She was a bit to scrawny and she didn't look like she could throw a punch to save her life. It would take a lot of work to make her a worthy fighter, but she was willing to give it a try for Oracle sake. "Alright, I'll be her trainer."

"Um, don't I get a say in any of this? I mean I'm sure that Batgirl is strong fighter, but my Dad would be really upset if she killed me!"

"Cassandra is a brilliant fighter and is very disciplined. I assure you that the worst you'll get is a few broken bones. Don't worry I'll make sure that she doesn't go overboard. Oracle, do you have a mission for us?"

"I've uncovered data about a possible new Metahuman brawl that is kidnapping normal humans from different countries and turning them into Metahumans to fight. Roulette seems keen on keeping this one a secret and I'm worried she might have called extra dimensional help for both security and profit. My team will be busy trying to find evidence of where she might be set up. An expert on her help will be visiting you later. Work with him to uncover possible leads and see if you can track down any of the missing people."

"Will do, until he shows up I think we should get a little training in. We'll conference with you later once we have more information. Call you in a few hours. Now, let's get down to the gym and start training. Huntress, you work with Flamebird on her dodging and reaction times. Ice, hit the treadmill and I want Fire on the weights. Batgirl, do what you can to improve Magician Girl's fighting skills. I'm going to work on the parallel bars and then the climbing wall. Our guest will be here in a few hours so let's get a good workout before we start researching for our mission. Ladies, let's go."

"Why do I have the feeling this is going to not end well?" Magician Girl whispered to Flamebird.

"Oh trust me, training has its perks."

An hour later Magician Girl was beginning to regret her choice as once again her legs were taken out from under her. She rolled out of the way as Batgirl launched herself at her. She tried weaving out of the way as Batgirl struck hard and fast with a flurry of punches. Most hit her in the chest and abdomen, but she managed to use her wand to deflect a couple of hits. "Enough of this! _Freeze in place. Ecalp ni ezee _oommm!" Magician Girl found her mouth covered in gack.

"Rely less on magic and more on your own fighting skills!" Batgirl barked as she threw the girl over her shoulders. She didn't even give her a chance to recover as she came at her again with a flying kick. Magician Girl jumped over Batgirl and ran to the opposite end of the mat to give herself some space. She was determined to land one hit before this session ended and after catching out of the corner of her eye Flamebird avoiding all of Huntress's shots and even catching a few to fling back at her she had a plan. Ripping off the gack she got into a fighting stance that Robin had shown her ready to defend herself.

Batgirl was moving swiftly and silently towards her target; her body posed for the attack. She was going to beat the lesson of self defense into this girl if she had to. She was not impressed by the stance that her pupil had taken. She looked very uncomfortable as if she had never taken it before. She got ready to make her move when the girl flung her top hat in her face blinding her for a second. The girl then grabbed her wrist twisting it as hard as she could trying to force her into uncomfortable spot, but Batgirl rotated her appendage out of her grip and did a high kick. The teen caught her heal and shoved it out of the way before head butting her. She opened her mouth and whispered a quick spell, "_Tlah!" _

Batgirl was unable to move, but her student was unable to fight. She collapsed to her knees exhausted. She was gasping for air and looking pale, but triumphed. As the spell ended the former assassin walked over and gave her some water to drink. "Not bad. You seem to be getting the idea and I was impressed by your ingenuity. With some more training you could become a threat."

"Thank you. You're not a bad teacher. Ugh, I'm going to be black and blue tomorrow. Hope Dad doesn't freak out."

"That's what the infirmary is for Zee. I saw some of your fight. Batgirl put you throw the ringer, but you held your own. I've never lasted that long in a fight," Flamebird informed her friend helping her up. Her costume had lots of nicks in it where she hadn't been able to dodge. She was sweating a storm and looked like she might be favoring her right side, but the teen heroine looked pleased.

"Good training session?"

"Flamebird did a lot better. Her reaction time has increased and she's able to dodge my arrows easier, but we still have a long way to go. You need to learn to think two steps ahead of your enemy remember?" Huntress told her pupil. The other women had finished their workouts and were coming over to see how the junior members were holding up. Everyone was tired and sweaty.

"Looks like we all got a good workout. I think we ladies should hit the showers and possibly to hot tub to relax for a bit before we start our investigations. Flamebird, if you and Magician Girl would be so kind to clean up the gym and take care of the costumes, we'll see you later in the library."

"No problem Aunt Kathy, don't worry we'll take care of everything. Well are you coming Zee? The sooner we get finished with the chores the sooner we can relax."

"I'm confused, why do we have to clean up the gym and mend the costumes? What about them?"

"Hey, it's all part of the package of being junior members of the BOPs. We're responsible for most of the cleaning, a majority of the maintenance, and we're gophers for the adult members. You know, we run errands for them or cater to their needs."

"That sucks big time. Don't they do anything?"

"Sure, they make sure all the equipment and the Tower run smoothly; make sure we have all the supplies we need for our weapons, keep the security up and running. They train us and keep us safe when we go on missions. I know this isn't the glamorous life style that you hoped for, but hey we do the grunt work and later we get our own private session in the hot tub! Oh no magic, we have to clean this place with good old fashion elbow grease."

"I'm starting to wonder if I should have taken the offer to be apart of Young Justice. Where are the rags and spray? Let's get this over with. I want to help find that Roulette character and bring her to justice." The teen girls laughed and for the next hour and half helped clean the Tower top to bottom and wash the costumes before mending them. They went down to the garage and waxed the motorcycles and they prepared the guest room for their surprise visitor. By the time they were done and changed it was time to help the older members with the case so no hot tub.

Batwoman and Huntress were busy on the computer looking into missing person's databases and reviewing government documents on secret Meta testing in foreign countries. Ice and Fire were talking to their old contacts trying to pin down investors who could be helping to shield Roulette from crimes while Batgirl was busy in the library researching sacred sites where someone could summon supernatural forces for a good fight.

Batwoman looked up from what she was doing and spied the girls. "Good your finish cleaning, I need your help. Flamebird, I need your help going tracking down the present location of all Roulette's contacts and finding out if they're helping her out. Cross reference her known associates with recent police activity and do some research on who she might trust to help her with her new investment. Magician Girl, our guest will be arriving in a few minutes. Go meet him at the gate and then give him whatever assistance he needs. Report back in two hours with whatever you find out. That's an order."

"On it Aunt, I mean Batwoman. You can count on me to get the job done!"

"No problems. By the way who is our mystery guest?"

"Its, oh there's the perimeter alarm, you two better hustle already. Our guest may have a lot of patience, but it's rude to keep him and his companion waiting," Huntress remarked with a mischief smile.

"What do you think she met by his companion? I thought we were only getting one guest," Magician Girl asked Flamebird as they rode the elevator together.

"Who knows? Let's hope he's cute. You could use a boyfriend after losing out to Taji for Robin's heart."

"For the last time I'm not into Robin that way! I want someone with more maturity and sophistication. A little passion and magic doesn't hurt either. Now who could our guest be? Okay just enter the code and welcome to the Tower Mr. - Jason Blood! You're our surprise guest!"

I heard that you had joined the Birds of Prey. Judging by your expression you weren't expecting to see me," Jason replied calmly to the stunned mage.

"It's Magician Girl actually. Batwoman didn't have a chance to tell us who our guest was. Welcome please come in. Why are you here?" she asked nervously, trying her best to ignore her best friend mouthing to her he's hot and giving her an encouraging look. She glared at her and the teen got the message heading off to do her own research.

"Oracle contacted me when she discovered evidence that Roulette might be setting up matches between Meta and normal humans against demonic forces to increase her profits. Since Entrigan hasn't had much luck on his end tracking down demonic suspects I thought it best I come here and see what I could do to help. With two magic users I'm sure we can discover if there have been any demonic crossings. Is there a place we can work without being disturbed?"

"Sure! I'll show you to one of our free rooms. I'm eager to learn new spells from master such as yourself," Magician Girl remarked, thankful her carnival mask hid her red cheeks. Pushing down her growing crush, she reminded herself there was work to be done.

Working with Jason was incredible. He was so knowledgeable of spells and helped her focus her magic so she could pick up demonic hotspots without speaking. The two of them worked side by side finding out what demons could be summoned for a fight and where they could be physically tied to place for repeat uses. A few minutes with Entrigan also gave her a glimpse into the inner hierarchy of the demonic world and how to prevent herself from accidentally summoning a beast. He was helpful in what spells could defend her.

When they presented their combined evidence, along with the information the others had gathered, the older woman had a good idea of where to start looking for Roulette, as well as how to protect themselves against demonic forces. They hoped by working with their West Coast counter parts they could shut down the trafficking ring and bring Roulette in before she turned to many people into out control Metas, or worse, killed them. Jason Blood agreed to stay for a few days and help the women out with anything they needed.

After the briefing both Zantana and Bettie took a well deserved relaxation dip in the hot tube drinking smoothies and chatting. "I can't believe that tomorrow night we'll be tracking down leads in the city and beating up bad guys. Do you think our mentors will let us in on some action?"

"Yeah, they'll keep an eye on us, but they trust us to handle our own in a fight. Just be sure to tell your dad that we'll have demon back up for protection. That is unless he's going to go crazy on you and your new boyfriend!"

"Stop teasing me! I admit that Jason Blood is cute and smart, not to mention a totally amazing mage, but he's like centuries old. I don't even want to think about the grounding I get if my Dad found out I was interested in him."

"Then don't tell him! Besides, you're a big girl and you're a growing girl. In a few years no one will be able to resist you! I have to ask, how did you like your first day as a member of the Birds of Prey?"

"Well, the perks are nice. A wonderful top of the line HQ, my own ride, and this hot tub are great. I could do without the killer training sessions, being the maid and I'm not looking forward to having an adult watching my back while I fight, but after seeing our teammates in action I'm glad. Plus having my own space and a cute guy to hang with; I think I'm going to enjoy being a member of this team. Who knows, in a few years you and I could be running this show."

"Cheers to that Zantana. To a bright, happy, and hopeful future as heroines of the world and an inspiration to future generations."

"I'll drink to that. Ah, I love my life," Zantana said. The two girls sipped their drinks and sat back relaxing. Everything was good in the world.


End file.
